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The Times of Israel liveblogged Tuesday’s events as they happened.
Iran president praises 2015 nuclear deal, calls for relations ‘based on equal footing’
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian addresses the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly, September 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
Making the case for the Western world to shift its approach to the Islamic Republic, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian says his country is “prepared to foster meaningful economic, social, political and security partnerships with global powers and its neighbors based on equal footing.”
“The appropriate response to this message from Iran is not to impose more sanctions, but to fulfill existing obligations to remove sanctions benefiting the Iranian people, hence laying the foundations for more constructive agreements,” he says in his address to the UN General Assembly.
He speaks positively about the 2015 nuclear agreement his country inked with the US and other world powers.
“Iran agreed to the highest, unprecedented level of nuclear oversight in return for recognition of our rights and the lifting of sanctions,” he says, blasting former US president Donald Trump’s 2018 unilateral withdrawal from the agreement and implementation of major sanctions against Tehran.
“The goal was to securitize Iran, which instead leads to insecurity for all the policies of the US,” Pezeshkian claims.
“We are ready to engage with JCPOA participants. If JCPOA commitments are implemented fully and in good faith, dialogue on other issues can follow,” he adds, using the initials for the normal name of the 2015 nuclear agreement.
Pezeshkian then addresses his remarks to the American people.
“It is not Iran that has established military bases along your borders… imposed sanctions on your country, obstructed your trade relations with the world… prevents you from accessing medicine… restricted access to the global banking and financial system… targeted your military leaders. Rather, it is the United States that assassinated Iran’s most revered military commander at the Baghdad airport,” he says, referring to former Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps top commander Qassem Soleimani, who was assassinated in 2020.
At UN, Iranian president says Gaza ‘genocide’ has exposed true nature of Israel
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian speaks during the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly at the United Nations headquarters in New York City on September 24, 2024. (Charly Triballeau/AFP)
In his speech to the UN General Assembly, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian says, “The world has witnessed the true nature of the Israeli regime” over the past year of war in Gaza.
“It has witnessed how the regime carries out atrocities in Gaza, and how in 11 months it has murdered in cold blood over 41,000 innocent people, mostly women and children,” Pezeshkian says, making no differentiation between civilians and combatants.
“Its leaders label this genocide — the killing of children, war crimes and state terrorism — as legitimate self-defense. They label hospitals, kindergartens and schools as legitimate military targets. They label the freedom-loving and brave people around the world who protest against their genocide as antisemitic. They label oppressed people who have stood up against seven decades of occupation and humiliation as terrorists,” he continues.
“It is Israel that has assassinated our scientists, diplomats and even guests on our soil,” the Iranian president says, apparently referring to Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated in Tehran in July. Pezeshkian claims, without proof that Israel “supported — both covertly and overtly — terrorist groups like ISIS.”
“Israel has been defeated in Gaza, and no amount of barbaric violence can restore its myth of invincibility,” he claims.
He calls for a ceasefire in Gaza and “an end to the desperate barbarism of Israel in Lebanon before it engulfs the region and the world.”
The Iranian president argues that the only solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the holding of a referendum for Palestinians “who live in their motherland as well as those who have been forced into its diaspora to determine their future.”
“We are confident that through this mechanism, we can achieve a lasting peace with Muslims, Christians and Jews living alongside one another in one land in tranquility and peace,” Pezeshkian says.
UN Security Council to meet on Lebanon on Wednesday
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, right, speaks during a Security Council meeting, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024, at UN headquarters. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, Pool)
The United Nations Security Council will meet at 6 p.m. (2200 GMT) on Wednesday on the escalation in fighting in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah, says Slovenia, president of the 15-member council for September.
WATCH: Iran’s president addresses UN General Assembly
President of Iran Masoud Pezeshkian signs a guest book at the United Nations headquarters in New York, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is addressing the UN General Assembly.
The speech comes as Israel has launched an aerial offensive against Iran’s major terror proxy, Hezbollah, after more than 11 months of Hezbollah rocket attacks.
Speaking earlier, Pezeshkian said that Hezbollah “cannot stand alone” against Israel, which carried out its deadliest day of air strikes on Lebanon since 2006.
“Hezbollah cannot stand alone against a country that is being defended and supported and supplied by Western countries, by European countries and the United States,” Pezeshkian said in an interview with CNN translated from Farsi to English.
He called on the international community to “not allow Lebanon to become another Gaza,” in response to a question on whether Iran would use its influence with Hezbollah to urge restraint.
Harris widens lead over Trump to 47%-40%, poll shows
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump stands on stage after speaking about the tax code and manufacturing at the Johnny Mercer Theatre Civic Center, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024, in Savannah, Ga. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
US Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris leads Republican Donald Trump 47% to 40% in the race to win the November 5 US presidential election, as she appeared to blunt Trump’s edge on the economy and jobs, a Reuters/Ipsos poll published today found.
Harris had a lead of six percentage points based on unrounded figures – which showed her with support from 46.61% of registered voters while Trump was backed by 40.48%, according to the three-day poll that closed on Monday. The Democrat’s lead was slightly higher than her five-point advantage over Trump in a Sept 11-12 Reuters/Ipsos poll.
The latest poll had a margin of error of about four percentage points.
While national surveys including Reuters/Ipsos polls give important signals on the views of the electorate, the state-by-state results of the Electoral College determine the winner, with seven battleground states likely to be decisive.
Polls have shown Harris and Trump are neck-and-neck in those battleground states, with many results within the polls’ margins of error. A recent New York Times/Siena College poll showed Trump with marginal leads in three of these states – Arizona, Georgia and North Carolina.
Asked which candidate had the better approach on the “economy, unemployment and jobs,” some 43% of voters responding to the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll picked Trump and 41% selected Harris. Trump’s two-point advantage on the topic compares to his three-point lead in an August Reuters/Ipsos poll and an 11-point lead over Harris in late July shortly after she launched her campaign.
Syrian air defense triggered amid alleged Israeli strike on port city of Tartus
Syrian officials say that they activated air defenses amid an alleged Israeli strike on the port city of Tartus.
The officials tell Reuters that they shot down several Israeli missiles.
Syria frequently claims to have intercepted Israeli strikes, but most analysts doubt their ability to do so.
There is no comment from the IDF, which rarely comments on strikes in Syria.
The report comes as Israel has launched widespread strikes against Hezbollah in neighboring Lebanon.
Syria is a major thoroughfare for Iranian arms being sent to Hezbollah.
🚨🚨Israeli strike on Syria's second-largest port city, Tartus. #Hezbollah #Tartus #Israel #Syria #iran #Russia pic.twitter.com/pWVOkglhLm
— no love no tension (@adeelriaz1991) September 24, 2024
Qatar becomes second Muslim nation whose citizens can travel to the US without a visa
US President Joe Biden, right, shakes hands with Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani in the Oval Office of the White House, January 31, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
The Gulf nation of Qatar becomes just the second Muslim-majority country to be admitted into a program that allows its citizens to travel to the United States without first obtaining a US visa.
The departments of State and Homeland Security jointly announce that Qatar had met stringent eligibility requirements to join the visa waiver program. Those requirements include a low visa refusal rate, a low rate of visa overstays and a demand of reciprocal treatment of American travelers, who are already allowed to visit Qatar without a visa for up to 30 days.
“Qatar has been an exceptional partner for the United States, and our strategic relationship has only grown stronger over the past few years,” the departments say in a statement. “This is further evidence of our strategic partnership and our shared commitment to security and stability.”
Qatar, which has played a key role in trying to negotiate a cease-fire deal in Gaza and was an instrumental US partner before and during the American withdrawal from Afghanistan, is the 42nd country to be admitted to the program.
Most countries whose citizens can visit the US without a visa are longstanding allies in Europe and Asia. The only other Muslim-majority country in the program is the tiny Southeast Asian nation of Brunei.
Although Qatar’s population is just over 3 million people, only a small percentage of those — about 320,000 — are actually Qataris who would be eligible for the program if they hold valid passports. The vast majority of people who live in Qatar are foreign workers and other expatriates who do not hold Qatari passports.
The program allows citizens of qualifying nations to enter the US for business or tourism without a visa for up to 90 days, although they must still obtain approval through the Electronic System for Travel Authorization, or ESTA, which is done online and doesn’t require an in-person interview as visa applications do.
After October 1, US citizens will be allowed to stay in Qatar without a visa for 90 days.
Israel was the last country admitted to the program in 2023, and it was allowed in despite significant concerns that it does not treat Palestinian Americans, Arab Americans or Muslim Americans the same as other US passport holders.
US-based Israeli history prof. says he talked with Iran’s president at interfaith meeting today
A US-based Israeli academic says he met earlier today in New York with Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian, as part of an interfaith dialogue hosted by the president.
Lior Sternfeld, Associate Professor of History and Jewish Studies at Penn State, says Pezeshkian knew he was Israeli and that he also told the UN delegation ahead of the session, and the invitation was not canceled.
The author of “Between Iran and Zion: Jewish Histories of Twentieth-Century Iran,” Sternfeld says he gave the president a copy of the book.
Channel 12 news reports that several rabbis also attended the meeting, along with Muslim and Christian representatives.
Iran’s Press TV posts photographs from the meeting, which indicate that members of the virulently anti-Zionist fringe ultra-Orthodox group Neturei Karta were also present.
President Pezeshkian has met with a number of religious leaders and scholars in New York. pic.twitter.com/IlZTP9Tklc
— Press TV 🔻 (@PressTV) September 24, 2024
Channel 12 says Sternfeld was invited by Iranian researchers with whom he has been in contact. It says he checked with officials in Israel, and got their approval to participate. It also says Sternfeld raised the issue of the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.
“It was interesting. It was difficult. It was respectful,” Sternfeld says of the meeting, and quotes Pezeshkian saying that “the war is terrible and has to stop.”
In partial remarks posted by the liberal Hebrew media outlet Relevant, Sternfeld claims: “Iran wants to play a mediating role on the issue of the hostages.”
He also says Pezeshkian said that when Israel and the Palestinians reach an agreement on an end to conflict that is acceptable to most Palestinians, Iran won’t carry the flag of the Palestinian struggle.
המרקם המזרח תיכוני סבוך עכשיו מאי פעם ובכל זאת נשיא איראן נפגש עם חוקר ישראלי.
בלעדי: פרופ׳ ליאור שטרנפלד בתגובה ראשונה על המפגש, על המלחמה שנכחה במרכז הדיון ועל איראן כמתווכת בעניין החטופים – @shlomieldar עם כל הפרטים. pic.twitter.com/mpltCrKwex— Relevant רלוונט (@relevant_il) September 24, 2024
IDF says drone launched at Atlit area south of Haifa caused minor damage, sparked fire
The IDF says a drone launched from Lebanon earlier this evening caused slight damage and sparked a fire near the coastal town of Atlit, south of Haifa.
The Hezbollah terror group claimed to have launched several explosive-laden drones at the Israeli Navy’s Atlit base, which houses the Shayetet 13 commando unit.
According to the IDF, three drones were launched in the attack, two of which were intercepted by air defenses.
“A fire broke out as a result of an impact in the area, minor damage was caused and the fire was extinguished,” the IDF says in a statement, adding that no injuries were caused.
Gallant says UN not fulfilling obligations in preventing Hezbollah attacks
The United Nations is shirking its responsibility in preventing rocket attacks into Israel by Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant says.
Gallant says in a statement on the X social-media platform in a response to comments from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres that Hezbollah has taken “Lebanon hostage.”
“The UN is neither acknowledging their actions, nor fulfilling its fundamental obligation – preventing Hezbollah attacks and demanding the implementation of resolution 1701,” he said of the resolution that requires Hezbollah to disarm and withdraw north of the Litani River.
Guterres earlier said, “Lebanon is at the brink. The people of Lebanon – the people of Israel – and the people of the world – cannot afford Lebanon to become another Gaza.”
Mr. Secretary General @antonioguterres, the nightmare you speak of, is in fact reality. The reality is that Hezbollah has taken Lebanon hostage, and the UN is neither acknowledging their actions, nor fulfilling its fundamental obligation – preventing Hezbollah attacks and… https://t.co/wbQ8XrXK3W
— יואב גלנט – Yoav Gallant (@yoavgallant) September 24, 2024
White House says it won’t call for end to Gaza war that does not include release of hostages
Israelis visit 'Hostage Square' in Tel Aviv, September 24, 2024. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
A senior Biden administration official says the US will not call for an end to the war in Gaza that doesn’t include the release of all Israeli hostages.
“We have said that this conflict should end, but not just on any terms. There are many many innocent people who are still captive inside Gaza, and we are not calling for an end of the conflict that ignores their plight,” says Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer during an onstage interview with the Axios news site on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
“We think that would be fundamentally inhumane and irresponsible,” he says.
Rockets spark fires in Safed, north
A barrage of rockets fired at northern Israel sparked fires near the city of Safed and in the surrounding areas.
Videos showed fires burning in the hills around the city.
Fire services are working to put out the blazes that were also reported near Sdeh Ilan.
♦️ יירוטים ושריפות באיזור צפת pic.twitter.com/a8VP9gAwJa
— Asslan Khalil (@KhalilAsslan) September 24, 2024
IDF releases footage of strike on Hezbollah commanders in Beirut
The IDF releases footage showing the airstrike that killed Ibrahim Qubaisi, the commander of Hezbollah’s rocket and missile division, and at least two other commanders in the Lebanese capital of Beirut earlier this evening.
IDF says Hezbollah fired over 300 rockets today, many more attempts foiled by army
An Israeli anti missile system intercepts missiles fired from Lebanon as seen from the northern Israeli city of Katzrin, on September 24, 2024. (Michael Giladi/Flash90)
IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari says Hezbollah planned to launch more rockets today, after at least 300 were fired at northern Israel.
“We are foiling, striking, and disrupting its attacks,” he says.
“I won’t go into detail about the data on the Hezbollah capabilities [that the IDF has destroyed]. We have [this data], learning it. I will not detail it, to not endanger our intelligence and not to give the enemy clarity,” Hagari says.
“While this achievement is important… Hezbollah still has more capabilities of different kinds. Our job is to take care of each of them, but first of all, we are focusing on its strategic capabilities that pose a greater risk to the Israeli home front,” he adds.
Asked if Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah is a target, Hagari says, “I won’t get into that issue. Since you’re asking, the chief of staff was asked exactly the same question two days ago and said that not a single person in a terrorist organization is immune.
“I think that’s a very clear answer,” says Hagari.
Asked about the duration of Israel’s operations in Lebanon, Hagari says it aims to keep them “as short as possible, that’s why we’re attacking with great force. At the same time, we must be prepared for it to take longer.”
US said to warn Israel not to target Lebanese state infrastructure as it battles Hezbollah
The US has reportedly warned Israel not to target the sovereign infrastructure of Lebanon as it tackles Hezbollah across the border.
Two days ago, US officials told their Israeli counterparts that they support the IDF’s actions targeting Hezbollah while warning that the US “red line” was that Israel not “knowingly and deliberately” do anything that leads to all-out war, Channel 12 reports.
Now, it says, the US has “sharpened” that message and is telling Israel “under no circumstances” to harm the infrastructure and/or assets of the sovereign state of Lebanon. The US has told Israel to “distinguish as far as possible” between Hezbollah and Lebanon, the report says.
IDF says at least two other Hezbollah commanders killed in Beirut strike that took out rocket chief
A rescuer inspects the destruction on a residential building whose top two floors were hit by an Israeli strike on Hezbollah's rocket chief in the Ghobeiri area of Beirut's southern suburbs on September 24, 2024. (AFP)
IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari says at least two more Hezbollah commanders were killed alongside Ibrahim Qubaisi, the commander of the terror group’s rocket and missile division in the strike in Beirut earlier today.
He says Qubaisi was behind the rocket fire in recent days on northern Israel, including some 300 rockets fired today.
“Today, about 300 rockets were fired at the Israeli home front, injuring 6 civilians and soldiers, most of them lightly,” he says.
Danon says Israel open to ideas to de-escalate in Lebanon
Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon speaks at a press conference during the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Sept. 24, 2024, at the UN headquarters. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Israel is open to ideas for de-escalating the conflict in Lebanon, Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon says, a day after the United States said it was exploring some “concrete ideas” with allies and partners.
“As we speak there are important forces trying to come up with ideas and we are open-minded for that,” he told reporters. “We are not eager to start any ground invasion anywhere… We prefer a diplomatic solution.”
On Monday, a senior State Department official said the US was discussing with allies and partners some “concrete ideas” to find an off-ramp that will prevent further escalation in the fighting and reduce tensions.
Danon said Israel was taking the ideas seriously.
“We still think it’s not too late for the Lebanese government, for the Lebanese people, to put pressure on Hezbollah to stop their aggression. If they will not fire rockets into Israel, then we will be able to bring back our residents, back to their communities, that’s it,” he said.
Asked by reporters what they were actively discussing at present, Danon said: “I cannot get into that.”
Security chiefs said to tell ministers they’ll do whatever’s needed against Hezbollah to restore security to north
Damage is seen to a house in Rosh Pina that suffered a direct hit by a Hezbollah rocket on September 24, 2024. (Israel Police)
Senior defense officials reportedly told security cabinet ministers yesterday that the IDF will not hesitate to use any means necessary to fulfill the government requirement to enable the safe return to their homes of tens of thousands of residents of the north, who have been displaced for almost a year by Hezbollah’s rocket fire.
These comments, reported by Channel 12 news, appear to underline the assessment that Israel wants to avoid a full-scale war with Hezbollah, but has not ruled it out if there is no other means to restore calm to the border.
According to the TV report, ministers were told by the security chiefs in their meeting yesterday: “The strategy [being followed by the IDF in Lebanon] is to change the balance of power in the north. The goal is two-fold: To strengthen deterrence against Hezbollah and return the residents of the north in safety to their homes, while deterring the entire Iranian axis and first of all Iran itself.”
“We are continuing the incremental strategy,” the security chiefs reportedly said: “Each time, we move up one stage and then another stage, and as the days go by, Hezbollah will increasingly internalize the IDF’s power.”
“We want to disconnect the Lebanon front from the Gaza front,” the officials reportedly added. “Thus far, [Hezbollah chief Hassan] Nasrallah has continued with his not-quite-a-war [approach]. We will compel him by force to halt his fire, without any relation to [what’s going on with] Hamas, whatever the cost. We won’t hesitate to utilize any means in order to achieve the goal designated by the cabinet.”
The cabinet last week added the imperative to enable the safe return of residents of the north to Israel’s formal war goals.
According to the TV report, however, the security chiefs also told the ministers that only a halt to fighting in Gaza would enable Israel to leverage its military achievements in Lebanon into a strategic arrangement for the north.
The report says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is currently holding another security consultation with security chiefs, attended by Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, Foreign Minister Israel Katz, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Shas party leader Aryeh Deri.
It also says security cabinet members signed documents today saying they won’t leak the content of their meetings.
Hezbollah claims to have launched drones at naval commando base south of Haifa
In its deepest drone attack amid the war, Hezbollah claims to have launched several explosive-laden drones at the Israeli Navy’s Atlit base, close to the town of the same name, south of Haifa.
The base houses the Shayetet 13 commando unit.
According to the IDF, three drones were launched in the attack, at least two of which were intercepted by air defenses. It says further details are under investigation.
There are no reports of injuries in the attack.
At UN, Qatari emir pledges to keep working as a mediator to reach Israel-Hamas ceasefire
Qatar Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani addresses the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Qatar’s Emir Hamad Al Thani highlights his country’s role as a mediator between Israel and Hamas, saying the process has been repeatedly hampered, including by Israel’s July assassination of Hamas’s leader Ismail Haniyeh.
He notes in his address to the UN General Assembly that the mediation culminated in a ceasefire and hostage deal in late November and pledges to “continue to make every effort with our partners until we reach a permanent ceasefire, secure the release of prisoners and detainees” and advance a two-state solution.
He calls out those talking about the post-war management of Gaza through a lens that only considers the security of Israelis, rather than that of the Palestinians. “It is this approach that wants to tailor the entire region to fit Israel while looking for circumventions to avoid ending the occupation.”
Al Thani expresses his backing for the Palestinian bid for full UN membership, which has been blocked by the US under the argument that it would harm peace efforts.
“Talking about such a step harming the peace process is simply eyewash because there is no Israeli partner for peace during the current government’s tenure,” he argues.
Qatari emir tells UN that Israel’s war in Gaza is a ‘genocide’
Qatar Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani addresses the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Qatar’s Emir Hamad Al Thani brands Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza a “genocide,” in his speech to the UN General Assembly.
The war is “a crime of genocide by means of the most sophisticated weapons against people besieged in a detention camp where there is no escape from the barrage of aerial bombing,” says the Qatari premier.
“We oppose violence and the targeting of innocent civilians by any party, but after a year of this war… it is no longer tenable to talk about Israel’s right to defend itself in this context without being complicit in justifying the crime,” he says, in an apparent attack at the US and other Western countries.
Adopting phrases utilized by anti-Israel activists on college campuses, Al Thani says Palestinians are an “indigenous people on their own land… who are subjected to a settler colonial occupation, [which] has taken the form of an apartheid system in the 21st century.”
The Qatari emir also bashes the current Israeli government’s efforts “to expand settlements, annex the West Bank and Judaize Jerusalem.”
Turning to the conflict with Hezbollah in Lebanon, Al Thani blasts Israel for “committing a major crime by rigging wireless communication devices and exploding them simultaneously across thousands of people with total disregard for their identity or location.”
Israel has not taken responsibility for the exploding pagers and walkie-talkies.
“This is what we have repeatedly warned against if the brutal war on Gaza does not end,” he continues.
Blasting Israel’s escalating operations against Hezbollah without mentioning the Iran-backed group’s nearly year-long cross-border terror attacks, Al Thani claims, “They know that it will neither bring security nor peace to Northern Israel, nor to Lebanon.”
Netanyahu speech to UN General Assembly shifted from Friday to Thursday
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shows a map of 'Israel in 1948' as he addresses the 78th United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York City on September 22, 2023. (Bryan R. Smith/AFP)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will speak at the United Nations on Thursday, an Israeli official tells The Times of Israel.
He was initially slated to speak on Friday and remain in New York for the Jewish Sabbath. By moving the speech, he will be able to return to Israel on Friday.
Netanyahu’s trip to the US has been shortened due to the major escalation with Hezbollah.
Iran said to deflect Hezbollah request to attack Israel
Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian addresses the the Summit of the Future at United Nations headquarters, Sept. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Hezbollah has asked its Iranian patrons to attack Israel as the IDF steps up its strikes on the Lebanese terror group, but so far, Tehran has refrained, the Axios news site reports.
The report cites two Israeli officials and one Western diplomat.
The Israeli officials say the Iranians told Hezbollah that “the timing isn’t right” because the Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian is currently in New York for the UN General Assembly.
According to the report, Hezbollah asked the Iranians to attack as part of their response to the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran two months ago. Iran has vowed to respond.
The sources say that the “Iranians expressed reservation about joining the fight against Israel now and didn’t give a positive response.”
IDF says 3 drones targeted Mount Carmel region in deepest infiltration yet, some downed
Rockets fired from southern Lebanon are intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome air defence system as seen from Haifa in northern Israel, on September 24, 2024. (Photo by Jack Guez / AFP)
The IDF says three drones launched from Lebanon set off sirens in several towns near the coast of the Mount Carmel region this evening.
Some of the drones were intercepted by air defenses, and further details are under investigation, the military adds.
The incident marks the deepest Hezbollah drone attack on Israel amid the war.
Meanwhile, the IDF says strikes continue in Lebanon. In the past two hours, fighter jets hit dozens of Hezbollah targets in the Beqaa Valley and in the south of the country, it says.
The military says the strikes have destroyed buildings where Hezbollah stored weapons, along with rocket launchers aimed at Israel.
In Bint Jbeil, the IDF says it is currently striking Hezbollah weapon depots, after the terror group launched rockets from the southern Lebanon town at Safed and Rosh Pina.
🔴עדכון על חדירת הכטב״מ מעל עתלית🔴
– ירוטים מעל עתלית
– פצצות תאורה מעל חיפה
– נשמע פיצוץ, נבדק אם הכטב״מ הופל pic.twitter.com/MA6cgTVVUd— אור פיאלקוב (@orfialkov) September 24, 2024
Sirens warn of suspected drone infiltration south of Haifa
Sirens warning of a suspected drone infiltration are sounding in Atlit and other towns on the coast of the Mount Carmel region of northern Israel, south of Haifa.
The IDF says it is looking into the incident.
Rocket alerts are also sounding across the lower Galilee.
✈️ Hostile Aircraft Intrusion, Rocket Alert [19:42:28] (4):
• HaCarmel — Megadim, Atlit, Neveh Yam
• Upper Galilee — Beit Jann
Population: 31,000 pic.twitter.com/aZl0CRMvGA— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) September 24, 2024
At ground offensive drill, Gallant says Israel has more ‘blows’ prepared for Hezbollah
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant speaks to troops during a drill in northern Israel, September 24, 2024. (Ariel Hermoni/Defense Ministry)
Speaking to troops at a drill simulating a ground offensive in Lebanon, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant says the IDF has “additional blows already prepared” for Hezbollah.
“Today’s Hezbollah is not the Hezbollah of a week ago. The sequence of blows it faced in its command and control, its operatives, its weapons, all these things are extremely severe blows,” Gallant says to troops of the 7th Armored Brigade and 202nd Paratroopers Battalion.
“We have more blows ready, we know what to do,” he says.
“Any Hezbollah force that encounters you will be destroyed, they are troubled by the experience you have gained in combat,” Gallant adds to the soldiers, who have previously fought in the Gaza Strip against Hamas.
The drill is the latest in a series carried out by the IDF for a potential ground offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Abdullah slams those who continue to view Jordan as homeland for Palestinians
King Abdullah II of Jordan, addresses the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly at United Nations headquarters, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Jordan’s King Abdullah blasts “those who continue to propagate the idea of Jordan as an alternative homeland” for the Palestinians.
“Let me be very clear. That will never happen. We will never accept the forced displacement of Palestinians, which is a war crime,” he says in his speech to the UN General Assembly.
“Let us not forget the attacks on the West Bank… Armed settler violence has surged, and entire villages have been displaced,” the Jordanian leader laments.
“In Jerusalem, flagrant violations of the historical and legal status quo at Muslim and Christian holy sites continue unabated under the protection and encouragement of members of the Israeli government,” he says.
“For years, the global community has taken the path of least resistance, accepting the status quo of the ongoing military occupation of Palestinians, all the while paying lip service to the two-state solution.”
“For years, the Arab world has extended a hand to Israel through the Arab Peace Initiative, offering full recognition and normalization in exchange for peace, but consecutive Israeli governments, emboldened by years of impunity, have rejected peace and chosen confrontation instead,” says the leader of one of the few Arab countries that has already normalized relations with Israel.
“For decades, Israel has projected itself as a thriving Western-style democracy in the Middle East, but the brutality of the war on Gaza has forced the world to look closer. Now, many see Israel through the eyes of its victims, and the contradiction, the paradox is too jarring. The modern advanced Israel admired from afar, and the Israel that Palestinians have experienced firsthand simply cannot coexist,” he continues.
“Israel will eventually be entirely one or the other. That is the choice its leaders and its people will have to make — to live by the democratic values of freedom, justice and equality for all, or to risk further isolation and rejection,” Abdullah argues.
Jordan’s Abdullah tells UN that scale of Israel’s assault on Gaza is ‘beyond any justification’
King Abdullah of Jordan addresses the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Jordan’s King Abdullah focuses almost the entirety of his UN General Assembly address on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, blasting Israel’s prosecution of the war in Gaza, its policies in the West Bank and its attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon.
“The attacks of October 7 on Israeli civilians last year were condemned by countries all over the world, including Jordan, but the unprecedented scale of terror unleashed on Gaza since that day is beyond any justification,” Abdullah says, making no mention of Hamas throughout the entire speech.
“The Israeli government’s assault has resulted in one of the fastest death rates in recent conflicts, one of the fastest rates of starvation caused by war, the largest cohort of child amputees and unprecedented levels of destruction. This Israeli government has killed more children, more journalists, more aid workers and more medical personnel than any other war in recent memory,” he says.
Israel asserts that it does not target civilians, while Hamas intentionally fights and hides among them.
The Jordanian leader calls for the establishment of “a protection mechanism” for Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. “This will guarantee the safety of Palestinians and Israelis from extremists who are taking our region to the brink of an all-out war.”
He also urges the international community to join Jordan’s “Gaza Humanitarian Gateway” to provide aid for those in need in the Strip.
Briefly referencing the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, the Jordanian leader says, “No country in the region benefits from escalation. We have seen that clearly in the dangerous developments in Lebanon over the past few days. This has to stop.”
More than 270 rockets fired at Israel so far today
Rockets fired from southern Lebanon are intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome air defense system over the Upper Galilee region in northern Israel on September 24, 2024. (Jalaa Marey/AFP)
More than 270 rockets have been fired from Lebanon at northern Israel today, according to the IDF.
In the last few hours, several barrages were launched, including 35 at the Lower Galilee at around 2:50 p.m., 15 at the Haifa Bay area at 3:00 p.m., 10 at the Jezreel Valley at 3:15 p.m., five at the Golan Heights at 3:30 p.m., 40 at the Safed area at 3:45 p.m., 30 at the Western Galilee at 5:30 p.m., and another 30 at the Safed area not long after.
Overnight, Hezbollah fired some 20 rockets at the Jezreel Valley in several barrages. In the early morning hours, it fired two rockets at Nahariya. And throughout the morning launched another 85 at several areas in northern Israel. Just after 1 p.m., five more rockets were launched toward Haifa.
Many of the rockets were intercepted or fell in open areas. However, there were several impacts that damaged homes and property and at least two people were lightly wounded by shrapnel.
US officials in talks with allies to de-escalate tensions between Israel and Hezbollah
Journalists gather at the scene of a building that was hit by an Israeli airstrike on the head of Hezbollah's rocket unit in Beirut's southern suburbs, Sept. 24, 2024. (AP/Hassan Ammar)
White House principal deputy national security adviser Jon Finer says that Biden administration officials were in talks with allies to help find an off-ramp to the escalating tensions between Israel and Hezbollah.
“We’re working on that in real time right here in New York and in capitals around the world,” Finer says in an appearance at an event hosted by the news site Axios on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
“We’re not going to reveal all the details of those sensitive conversations, but we very much want that conflict to de-escalate.”
Finer sidestepped questions about whether the fighting has already become the all-out war that the US had been pressing Israel to avoid with Lebanon as it continues the nearly yearlong conflict in Gaza. But he underscored that a “big war, a wider war” is in neither Israel’s nor Lebanon’s interest.
Knesset committee approves NIS 3.4b budget expansion to fund evacuees, reserve soldiers
Following a heated debate, the Knesset Finance Committee approves a bill increasing the 2024 state budget by almost NIS 3.4 billion ($924 million) for the second and third readings needed for it to pass into law.
The bill is intended to help fund evacuated civilians and reserve soldiers until the end of the year.
The bill passed its first reading in the plenum 57-51 earlier this month despite the warnings of both professionals in the Finance Ministry and the opposition, which argues that it fails to curb coalition spending and that its increased expenditures come at the expense of the middle class.
At UNGA, Erdogan again compares Netanyahu to Hitler, calls for alliance to stop Israel
Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan addresses the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024, at UN headquarters. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan again compares Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Hitler, this time doing it in his speech to the United Nations General Assembly.
“Just as Hitler was stopped by an alliance of humanity seventy years ago, Netanyahu and his murder network must be stopped by an alliance of humanity,” he says.
Erdogan claims that the values of the UN system and the Western world are “dying in Gaza” and calls for an “alliance of humanity” to stop Israel, blasting the UN Security Council for failing to end the war in Gaza.
Having taken the lectern just after US President Joe Biden, Erdogan doesn’t hide his contempt for Washington’s policy in the region. “Those who are supposedly working for a ceasefire from this stage continue to send arms and ammunition to Israel so it can continue its massacres.”
Turning to the latest tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, Erdogan says that Turkey stands with the people of Lebanon and accuses Israel of dragging the entire region into war over its attacks on Hezbollah terrorists.
“What more are you waiting for to stop the massacre network that endangers also the lives of its own citizens along with the Palestinian people and drags the entire region into war for the sake of its political prospects?” Erdogan asks.
IDF says it has hit 400 medium-range launchers, 70 arms depots and 80 drones and cruise missiles
Smoke rises behind a destroyed house following an Israeli airstrike on Hezbollah targets in Khiam village, as seen from Marjayoun town, south Lebanon, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Since launching its widespread airstrikes in Lebanon yesterday morning, the IDF says it has targeted some 400 medium-range rocket launchers, 70 weapon depots, and some 80 drones and cruise missiles.
They are among more than 1,500 Hezbollah targets hit in some 200 different areas of Lebanon, the military says. Most of the strikes have targeted homes where Hezbollah had stored munitions, according to the IDF.
Over 250 fighter jets have participated in the strikes, dropping some 2,000 munitions, the military adds.
The IDF says it will continue to strike Hezbollah to destroy its capabilities and “change the security reality in the north.”
Police say safe room saved family from direct hit on their home in Rosh Pina
Damage is seen to a house in Rosh Pina that suffered a direct hit by a Hezbollah rocket on September 24, 2024. (Israel Police)
Police say a family were saved by listening to instructions and going into their safe room when their home in the northern town of Rosh Pina suffered a direct hit from a Hezbollah rocket.
The Magen David Adom rescue service says the four members of the family were treated for acute anxiety at the scene and did not require hospitalization.
The rocket punches a hole in their living room.
“Remember that the discipline of civilians saves lives,” police say. “Obey the instructions from the Home Front Command, police, and other rescue services.”
Hezbollah fired more than 100 rockets into Israel today as the Air Force launched extensive strikes against the terror group.
Earlier, an IDF reservist was moderately wounded by shrapnel during a rocket barrage at the Mount Carmel area, south of Haifa.
In another attack on areas east of Haifa, shrapnel from an intercepted rocket lightly wounded a 58-year-old woman, medics said.
Throughout the morning Hezbollah rockets fell in the Galilee Panhandle, areas east and south of Haifa, the Jezreel Valley, the Lower Galilee, and the cities of Afula and Nazareth.
A barrage of 50 rockets also pounded the northern border town of Kiryat Shmona and surrounding areas. Municipal warehouses were among the locations hit in Kiryat Shmona, local authorities said.
At least one building caught fire, sending thick black smoke into the air.
A rocket also exploded on the road between Tamra and Kabul in northern Israel.
Starmer heckled by Gaza protester at Labour conference, touts changes made to party
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer addresses members at the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool, England, Sept. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Jon Super)
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is heckled by protesters shouting about Gaza during his first address to the Labour Party annual conference as prime minister.
Starmer uses the opportunity to tout the changes he made to the party since taking over from far-left, anti-Israel Jeremy Corbyn, whose time as leader was beset by rampant antisemitism in the party.
Starmer swiftly dealt with a heckler who demanded to know what he was doing to help children in Gaza.
“We’ve changed the party,” he told the heckler, whose protest was drowned out by applause and cheering by the crowd. “While he’s been protesting, we’ve been changing the party, that’s why we’ve got a Labour government.”
But Starmer also made an embarrassing mistake, calling for the release of the “sausages” held by Hamas, before quickly correcting himself to say “hostages.”
🚨 NEW: Keir Starmer calls for the ‘return of the sausages’ in Gaza, before correcting to ‘hostages’pic.twitter.com/T71PHGKh6m
— Politics UK (@PolitlcsUK) September 24, 2024
IDF says it’s launching new wave of ‘widespread’ strikes on Hezbollah targets
Flame and smoke rise from an Israeli airstrike in the Khiam valley, as seen from Marjayoun town, south Lebanon, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
The IDF announces that it is carrying out a new wave of “widespread” airstrikes against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.
It marks the fourth wave of strikes in Lebanon today.
The earlier strikes hit Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon and the Beqaa Valley.
IDF says slain Hezbollah rocket chief was behind 2000 kidnapping, killing of three IDF soldiers
Hezbollah rocket and missile chief Ibrahim Qubaisi, killed in an airstrike today in the Lebanese capital of Beirut, had planned a kidnapping attack carried out by the terror group in 2000, the IDF says.
IDF soldiers Staff Sgt. Benyamin Avraham, Staff Sgt. Adi Avitan, and Staff Sgt. Omar Sawaid were killed and abducted in the attack in the Mount Dov area on the border. Their bodies were returned in a prisoner exchange in 2004.
Herzog says Hezbollah will not stop attacks because Hamas doesn’t want deal to end war
Hezbollah will not stop attacking Israel because Hamas doesn’t want a hostage deal, President Isaac Herzog tells CNBC.
“[Hezbollah leader Hassan] Nasrallah decided that he wants to keep on going in the war because we are trying to negotiate a hostage deal, and [Hamas leader Yahya] Sinwar, in the dungeons of Gaza says no and again, no and again, no,” says Herzog.
He says that “resolving the conflict means bringing back our hostages home, and first and foremost, we have to remove the threat from Israel’s northern border, and that’s what we’re trying to do.”
“We will do whatever it takes to bring our citizens back home and enable calm in our cities,” Herzog insists. “We’ve shown our capabilities, and we have much more on the way if they will continue.”
All of Iran’s proxies, says Herzog, “are trying to close in on Israel from all sides of our borders. That’s the real situation now.”
“Hezbollah is a terrorist army which basically hijacked a nation called Lebanon. We tell the Lebanese people that we have no war with them, that we care for them, that we want to enable a peaceful future between us and Lebanon,” says Herzog.
Israel must defend itself, Herzog emphasizes, and does so according to humanitarian law: “We alert, we give ample warning, according to the rules of international law, but people have missiles in their kitchens, in their living rooms, in their storage rooms, in their mosques, in their shops. Now ask yourself, do you know anybody around your family or vicinity that holds a lethal weapon of such magnitude in his own home?”
He also responds to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s remarks that Hezbollah cannot stand alone against Israel, and that Lebanon must not become another Gaza.
“The Iranian president says something,” says Herzog, “and yet his National Guards are leading the entire region into the abyss by ongoing terror, by the pressing the button, by instructions of his own generals, who are seated in the control rooms of Hamas and Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah and the Houthis and the proxies in Iraq.”
“If the president of Iran really wants to lead to a different direction, then these proxies must be eliminated, must be removed,” says Herzog.
"There should be a grand coalition for peace in the region," Israeli President @Isaac_Herzog tells CNBC's @Dan_Murphy as Arab nations condemn Israel's assault on Lebanon. pic.twitter.com/Iu2VylpAIu
— CNBC Middle East (@CNBCMiddleEast) September 24, 2024
Gantz throws support behind Lebanon offensive
National Unity leader Benny Gantz speaks in video during a visit to northern Israel on September 24, 2024 (Screencapture)
During a tour of northern Israeli, National Unity chairman Benny Gantz reiterates his support for the government’s actions in Lebanon and his previous call for a ground operation if Hezbollah does not back down.
Expressing support for the residents of the north who are under Hezbollah rocket fire, Gantz says in a video message that he “would like to reiterate [that] Israel is completely right and the government and the security forces have broad and full backing to continue to act until we restore security and the residents can return.
“If Nasrallah does not stop the fire, we will also have to enter [Lebanese] territory to allow the return of our residents,” he says.
Israel’s red line “must not be Tel Aviv,” he continues, saying that just “as in the south our red line is Kerem Shalom and Sderot, so in the north our line is Metula, Shlomi and Kiryat Shmona. Only when the residents can return there safely can we stop the fighting.”
During his visit, the former war cabinet minister toured Haifa, Kiryat Tivon and Kiryat Bialik, where he was shown a street on which several houses suffered direct hits.
Biden to world leaders: Some things are more important than staying in power
US President Joe Biden departs after speaking during the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly at the United Nations headquarters in New York City on September 24, 2024. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP)
Wrapping up his speech at the UN General Assembly, US President Joe Biden offers a parting message to leaders, reminding them that there are more important things than staying in power.
He reflects on his decision over the summer not to seek reelection.
“Being president has been the honor of my life. There’s so much more I wanted to get done. But as much as I love the job, I love my country more. I decided, after 50 years of public service, it’s time for new generation to pull my nation forward.”
“My fellow leaders, let us never forget, some things are more important than staying in power,” Biden says. “It’s your people who matter the most. Never forget we are here to serve the people, not the other way around.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will address the UN General Assembly on Friday morning.
IDF confirms killing Hezbollah missile chief Ibrahim Qubaisi
People remove the rubble in a residential building whose top two floors were hit by an Israeli strike on the head of Hezbollah's missile unit in the Ghobeiri area of Beirut's southern suburbs on September 24, 2024. (Photo by ANWAR AMRO / AFP)
The IDF confirms that Ibrahim Qubaisi, the commander of Hezbollah’s rocket and missile division, was killed in an airstrike in the Lebanese capital of Beirut a short while ago.
In a statement, the military says that Qubaisi was killed in an airstrike carried out by fighter jets in the Dahiyeh suburb of Beirut.
Alongside Qubaisi there were other senior officers in Hezbollah’s rocket and missile division at the apartment where he was killed, the IDF says.
Qubaisi commanded Hezbollah’s various rocket and missile units, including its precision-guided missile unit, according to the military.
“Over the years and during the war, he was responsible for the launches at the Israeli home front. Qubaisi was a central source of knowledge in the field of missiles, and was close to the senior military leadership of Hezbollah,” the IDF says.
He had joined Hezbollah in the 1980s, and had served in several other significant roles, including in a senior position in the terror group’s operations division and as the head of the Badr regional division, the IDF adds.
Biden calls out settler violence at UN General Assembly, calls for two-state solution
United States President Joe Biden addresses the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024, at UN headquarters. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
US President Joe Biden uses one of the world’s largest international stages to call out Israeli settler violence against Palestinians, which has gone largely unchecked in the West Bank.
“As we look ahead, must also address the rise of violence against innocent Palestinians on the West Bank,” Biden says in his speech at the UN General Assembly
His administration began levying sanctions against extremist Israeli individuals and organizations at the beginning of the year and has pledged to continue doing so.
In the same breath, Biden urges “set[ing] the conditions for a better future, including a two-state solution, where Israel enjoys security and peace. full recognition and normalized relations with all its neighbors and where Palestinians live in security, dignity and self-determination in a state of their own.”
Biden says he is determined to avert Mideast regional war: ‘Full-scale war not in anyone’s interest’
United States President Joe Biden addresses the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024, at UN headquarters. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
US President Joe Biden tells the UN General Assembly that he remains determined to prevent a regional war and stresses that it is still possible to achieve a diplomatic resolution between Israel and Hezbollah that would prevent such an outcome.
“Since October 7, we’ve also been determined to prevent a wider war than engulfs the entire region,” Biden says.
“Hezbollah, unprovoked, following the [Hamas] October 7 attack, began launching rockets in Israel,” he says. “Almost a year later, too many on each side of the Israeli-Lebanon border remain displaced.”
“Full-scale war is not in anyone’s interest. Even as the situation has escalated, a diplomatic solution is still possible. In fact, it remains the only path to lasting security to allow the residents from both countries to return to their homes and the border safely. That’s… what we’re working tirelessly to achieve,” Biden adds.
At UNGA, Biden describes horrors of Oct. 7, urges Israel and Hamas to accept ceasefire
United States President Joe Biden addresses the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024, at UN headquarters. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
US President Joe Biden calls on Israel and Hamas to agree to the ceasefire and hostage release deal that the US has brokered with Egypt and Qatar during his speech at the UN General Assembly.
Beginning this section of his speech, Biden stresses that “the world must not flinch from the horrors of October 7. Any country would have the right, responsibility to ensure that such an attack could never happen again.”
“Thousands of Iran-backed Hamas terrorists invaded a sovereign state, slaughtering and massacring more than 1,200 people, including 46 Americans in their homes and at a music festival. Despicable acts of sexual violence. Two hundred and fifty innocents taken hostage. I’ve met with the families of those hostages. I’ve grieved with them. They’re going through hell,” Biden says.
Turning to the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza, Biden says, “Innocent civilians in Gaza are also going through hell. Thousands and thousands of civilians, including aid workers, too many families displaced, crowding in the tents, facing a dire humanitarian situation. They didn’t ask for this war that Hamas started.”
“I put forward with Qatar and Egypt a ceasefire and hostage deal. It’s been endorsed by the UN Security Council. Now is the time for the parties to finalize its terms, bring the hostages home and secure security for Israel and a Gaza free of Hamas’s grip, ease the suffering in Gaza and end this war,” Biden says to applause.
Azerbaijan, Lot and British Airways confirm further suspension of flights to Tel Aviv
British Airways planes parked at Heathrow Airport in Londonn on January 10, 2017 (AP Photo/Frank Augstein, File)
A spokesperson for Azerbaijan national carrier AZAL tells The Times of Israel it is suspending flights between Baku and Tel Aviv “due to recent events and security concerns in Israel,” joining other airlines that have canceled trips amid soaring violence between Israel and Hezbollah.
The airway, also known as Azerbaijan Airlines, says updates will be provided as the situation evolves.
“The safety of our flights and passengers remains AZAL’s top priority,” the airline says.
Polish flagship Lot has also canceled flights for Tuesday and Wednesday.
“Due to the current situation, we are constantly analyzing the safety of LOT Polish Airlines’ operations,” the carrier says in a statement on its website.
British Airways also confirms a further halt to flights.
“We’ve been continually monitoring the situation in the Middle East and have taken the operational decision to cancel our flights to and from Tel Aviv up to and including Thursday, 26 September. Safety is always our top priority, and we’re contacting customers to advise them of their travel options,” it says.
Netanyahu says war is with Hezbollah, urges Lebanese people to rise up against terror group
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a visit to an IDF intelligence base on September 24, 2024. (Screenshot/GPO)
Israel will “continue to hit Hezbollah,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says on a visit to an IDF intelligence base.
Addressing the people of Lebanon, Netanyahu stresses that “our war is not with you, our war is with Hezbollah.”
“[Hezbollah leader Hassan] Nasrallah is leading you to the brink of the abyss,” says Netanyahu. “I told you yesterday to evacuate the houses where he put a missile in the living room and a rocket in the garage. He who has a missile in his living room and a rocket in his garage will not have a home.”
Netanyahu says that Nasrallah is putting Lebanon in danger: “Free yourself from the grip of Hezbollah; Free yourself from Nasrallah’s grip, for your own good.”
At UNGA, Biden says world should not despair as war rages
US President Joe Biden speaks during the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly at the United Nations headquarters in New York City on September 24, 2024. (Photo by ANGELA WEISS / AFP)
Addressing the UN General Assembly, US President Joe Biden stresses the importance of not despairing, even as war wages across the globe.
He reflects on how Israel and Egypt were at war as he entered politics five decades ago. “Israel and Egypt went to war, but then forged a historic peace.”
“Things can get better. We should never forget that. I’ve seen that throughout my career,” he says.
“I know many look at the world today and see difficulties and react with despair, but I do not, I won’t,” Biden says. “As leaders, we don’t have the luxury. I recognize the challenges from Ukraine, to Gaza, to Sudan and beyond.”
WATCH: US President Joe Biden addresses UN’s General Assembly
US President Joe Biden is addressing the United Nations General Assembly for the final time.
Biden is expected to use his wide-ranging address to speak to the need to end the Middle East conflict and the 17-month-old civil war in Sudan, and to highlight US and Western allies’ support for Kyiv since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
His appearance before the international body also offers Biden one of his last high-profile opportunities as president to make the case to keep up robust support for Ukraine, which could be in doubt if former president Donald Trump, who has scoffed at the cost of the war, defeats Vice President Kamala Harris in November.
Airstrikes on Hezbollah over last day most extensive ever carried out by IAF — senior officer
An Israeli Air Force F-15 Eagle fighter aircraft flies over Haifa on September 24, 2024. (Photo by Jack GUEZ / AFP)
A senior Israeli Air Force officer says the airstrikes carried out over the past day against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon are the most extensive the IAF has carried out in its history.
More than 1,600 Hezbollah sites, mostly homes where weapons were stored, were struck in southern Lebanon and the Beqaa Valley within a day, according to the IDF.
The senior IAF officer says the widespread airstrikes are “changing the operational situation in the north, changing the reality.”
He says Hezbollah had two main capabilities that it built up over decades: the elite Radwan Force and its arsenal of rockets, missiles, and drones. The top leadership of the Radwan Force, tasked with invading Israel, was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Friday. Hezbollah’s rocket and drone capabilities have been targeted across Lebanon in the past day.
The official says the IAF is working to strike “all of their rocket capabilities, all of them” and that it is “very determined” to do so.
Hezbollah still has rocket capabilities, but they have been harmed significantly in the recent strikes, the official says.
The official says the IAF has worked to prevent civilian harm in the widespread strikes, and that mitigating harm to civilians is a significant part of its offensive plans. The IDF issued warnings to civilians to leave homes where Hezbollah had stored weapons, hours before launching the strikes.
The official says Hezbollah has endangered Lebanese civilians twofold: first by placing the weapons in their homes, and second by telling civilians to ignore the IDF’s evacuation calls, he says.
Some 600 people have been killed in the strikes since yesterday, according to Lebanese health officials. The IDF has assessed that many Hezbollah operatives are among the dead.
IDF distances itself from reports that strikes took out 50% of Hezbollah’s precision-guided missiles
An Israeli fighter jet is seen from Haifa, northern Israel, on Sept. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)
After Channel 12 news reports that recent IDF strikes in Lebanon have taken out 50% of Hezbollah’s precision-guided missiles and 75% of rockets with a range of up to 40 kilometers, and has harmed the capacity of the terror group to fire hundreds of rockets simultaneously, the military says it was not the source of the data.
The IDF Spokespersons Unit says the numbers presented by Channel 12 did not come from the military. A spokesperson says they could not verify the percentages and the data given by the network.
The IDF said earlier that it targeted some 1,600 Hezbollah sites, destroying short and medium-range rockets, cruise missiles, and drones stored in homes in south Lebanon and the Beqaa Valley.
Military sources said earlier that assessments of 50% of Hezbollah’s rockets destroyed in the recent strikes were exaggerated.
UN chief accuses Israel of ‘collective punishment’ in Gaza
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres addresses the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Sept. 24, 2024, at the UN headquarters. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson).
UN Secretary-General António Guterres accuses Israel of “collective punishment” of the Palestinians in Gaza.
Speaking at the opening of the General Assembly’s annual debate among world leaders, Guterres says that “nothing can justify the abhorrent acts of terror committed by Hamas on October 7 or the taking of hostages, both of which I have repeatedly condemned.”
“And nothing can justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people,” he continues, this time to applause.
Guterres says that the “speed and scale of the destruction and killing in Gaza are unlike anything in my years as secretary general.” He also notes that over 200 UN staff have been killed.
He stresses that the UN still provides services in Gaza, and says to the assembled officials: “I know you join me in paying a special tribute to UNRWA,” referring to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees
Guterres says that the international community “must mobilize for an immediate ceasefire, the immediate and unconditional release of hostages, and the beginning of an irreversible process toward a two-state solution.”
“What is the alternative? How can the world accept one state in which a large number of Palestinians will be included without any freedom, any rights or dignity?” he asks.
Guterres also expresses alarm over the recent escalation between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
“Gaza is a nonstop nightmare that threatens to take the entire region with it,” he says. “Look no further than Lebanon. We should all be alarmed by the escalation. Lebanon is at the brink. The people of Lebanon, the people of Israel and the people of the world cannot afford Lebanon to become another Gaza.”
In response, UN Ambassador Danny Danon blasts the assembly’s reaction to Guterres’s speech. “When the UN Secretary General speaks about the release of our hostages, the UN assembly remains silent,” he says, “but when he speaks about the suffering in Gaza he receives wild applause. This is the opening signal for the annual show of hypocrisy.”
Lebanese sources say top Hezbollah missile commander among 6 killed in IDF strike on Beirut
A residential building whose top two floors were hit by an Israeli strike in the Ghobeiri area of Beirut's southern suburbs on September 24, 2024, that killed a Hezbollah commander. (Photo by ANWAR AMRO / AFP)
A top Hezbollah commander in charge of the terror group’s missile unit was killed in the IDF strike on a Beirut apartment building, two Lebanese security sources tell Reuters.
He is identified as Ibrahim Qubaisi.
The Lebanese health ministry gave an initial toll of six dead and 15 wounded in the strike.
Pictures from the scene showed the top two floors of the apartment building have been hit.
US Navy replenishment ship in Mideast was damaged in an incident, officials say
This handout photo from the US Navy shows the Henry J. Kaiser-class fleet replenishment oiler USNS Big Horn sailing alongside the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln on Sept. 11, 2024, at an undisclosed location at sea in the Middle East. The Big Horn sustained damage in an incident which is under investigation, officials said Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. (US Navy via AP)
A US Navy replenishment ship operating in the Middle East sustained damage in an incident which is under investigation, officials say.
The damage to the USNS Big Horn comes after the oiler supplied the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group and remained in the region.
A US Navy official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss matters yet to be made public, says the damage happened in the Mideast, but declined to elaborate on its location. A photo released by the US military dated Sept. 5 showed sailors aboard the Lincoln receiving supplies from the Big Horn. The Lincoln is patrolling the Arabian Sea.
The official said the Big Horn’s crew was safe and there was no sign of an oil leak from the vessel.
Another US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity for the same reason, says the vessel was being supported by private tugboats and an assessment was still ongoing.
Rumors about the Big Horn’s condition began circulating early today after images posted to a website tracking shipping called gCaptain showed flooding purportedly on board the Henry J. Kaiser-class fleet replenishment oiler. The website said the Big Horn as having “ran aground… and partially flooded off the coast of Oman.”
UN chief calls global situation ‘unsustainable’ as General Assembly opens
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, left, and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres shake hands at the United Nations headquarters in New York, Sept. 23, 2024. (AP/Stefan Jeremiah)
UN Secretary-General António Guterres is warning that impunity, inequality and uncertainty are creating an “unsustainable world” where a growing number of countries believe they should have a “get out of jail free” card.
“We can’t go on like this,” he says.
Guterres is speaking as the General Assembly’s annual debate among presidents, prime ministers, monarchs and other leaders begins Tuesday.
Citing deepening geopolitical divisions, wars with no end in sight, climate change and nuclear and emerging weapons, he says humanity is “edging towards the unimaginable – a powder keg that risks engulfing the world.”
But, he says, “the challenges we face are solvable” if the international community confronts the uncertainty of unmanaged risks, the inequality that underlies injustices and grievances and the impunity that undermines international law and the UN‘s founding principles.
“Today, a growing number of governments and others feel entitled to a ‘get out of jail free’ card,” he said in a reference to the classic board game Monopoly.
Hezbollah first responders say three killed in Israeli strike on south Beirut
A residential building whose top two floors were hit by an Israeli strike in the Ghobeiri area of Beirut's southern suburbs on September 24, 2024. (Anwar AMRO / AFP)
Hezbollah-affiliated first responders say three people have been killed in Israel’s strike on southern Beirut Tuesday — the second on the capital in two days of wider raids.
“Three people were martyred in the strike,” an official from the Islamic Health Committee tells AFP, requesting anonymity as he was not authorized to discuss sensitive matters.
The dead are not identified.
Israeli sources said the target was the commander of Hezbollah’s missile unit.
Biden not giving up on Gaza ceasefire, hostages, White House says
US President Joe Biden speaks as he accepts the "Global Citizen Award" during the Clinton Global Initiative, on Monday, Sept. 23, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)
US President Joe Biden is determined to bring about a Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal with Hamas while also seeking to de-escalate tensions on Israel’s border with Lebanon, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan says.
“He absolutely hasn’t given up,” Sullivan says in an interview with MSNBC hours before Biden addresses the UN General Assembly for the last time as president.
Biden will huddle with world leaders gathered in New York to work on a ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza and avert an all-out war in the Middle East, Sullivan says.
He acknowledges challenges in getting both Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar across the line and says Hamas and Sinwar in particular “don’t want to do a deal.”
“But we’re determined to keep at it,” Sullivan says.
Official: Israeli strikes in Lebanon aim to change balance of power in region
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike in Marjayoun, near the Lebanon-Israel border, on September 23, 2024. (Rabih DAHER / AFP)
Through its dramatically stepped-up aerial attacks in recent days, Israel is working “to change the balance of power in the north by destroying thousands of rockets, by destroying [Hezbollah’s] capabilities, and through other means,” an Israeli official tells The Times of Israel.
The effort began with reports of “various explosions of beepers and other devices across Lebanon,” explains the official. Israel has not confirmed it was behind those attacks.
“It continued with the assassination of Ibrahim Aqil and the Radwan leadership. And it has continued over the past two days with the expansion of massive fire with the aim of hitting Hezbollah hard.”
There are two overarching goals, says the official. The first is “to strengthen deterrence against Hezbollah and to create a situation where Israel can return residents to their homes.”
The second is to deter “the entire Iranian axis,” says the official.
Israel will stop its operations if Hezbollah meets Israel’s demands, primarily that it pull back from Israel’s northern border, says the official. “They know our demands.”
If Hezbollah doesn’t stop, however, “the next stage will come,” warns the official, without laying out what that would entail.
It doesn’t have to be a ground invasion, says the official. “Either they’ll stop firing, or they won’t be able to anymore.”
Defense sources: Target of IDF airstrike in Beirut is head of Hezbollah’s missile unit
The target of the Israeli airstrike in the Lebanese capital of Beirut is the head of Hezbollah’s missile unit, defense sources tell Israeli media.
His fate is not immediately known.
The strike in the Dahiyeh suburb, a known Hezbollah stronghold, marks the fifth Israeli attack on Beirut amid the war.
The IDF said it would provide further details on the “targeted strike” soon.
Rocket sirens sound in towns east of Haifa
Fresh rocket sirens are sounding in several towns east of Haifa, amid a new attack by Hezbollah from Lebanon.
The alerts are activated in Sakhnin and several nearby towns.
IDF strike on Beirut targeted Hezbollah commander – Lebanese security sources
Smoke rises after a 'targeted' IDF strike on a Hezbollah target in Beirut, September 24, 2024. (Screenshot via social media used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
Lebanese security sources tell Reuters that the target of an IDF strike in Beirut was a Hezbollah commander.
The sources decline to identify who had been targeted in the strike and say his fate is unknown.
The airstrike hit a building in the Ghobeiry neighborhood.
Rocket sirens sound in Haifa area
Sirens sound in the Haifa area, warning of incoming rocket fire.
The alerts come shortly after the IDF said it carried out a “targeted” airstrike on Beirut.
IDF says jets dropped 2,000 munitions on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon over the past day
People inspect the debris at the site of an overnight Israeli strike on a house in the southern Lebanese village of Akbiyeh on September 24, 2024. Israel says it is targeting Hezbollah weapons hidden in civilian buildings. (Mahmoud ZAYYAT / AFP)
Israeli Air Force fighter jets dropped some 2,000 munitions on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon over the past day, the IDF says, releasing new footage.
The video shows a fighter jet refueling amid the strikes, and another clip shows a jet dropping several munitions.
IAF fighter jets struck some 1,500 Hezbollah targets, according to the military. Drones hit hundreds more.
IDF says it carried out ‘targeted’ airstrike in Hezbollah stronghold in Beirut
The IDF says it carried out an airstrike in the Lebanese capital of Beirut a short while ago.
The military describes the strike as “targeted,” and says further details will be provided later.
Lebanese media report that the strike took place in the Dahiyeh suburb, a known Hezbollah stronghold.
مراسلة #الجديد: غارة إسرائيلية تستهدف منطقة الغبيري في الضاحية الجنوبية لبيروت pic.twitter.com/ez8d40rmsy
— Al Jadeed News (@ALJADEEDNEWS) September 24, 2024
Rocket sirens sound in Galilee
Sirens sound in a number of communities in the Galilee, warning of incoming rocket fire from Lebanon.
IDF says it completed 3rd wave of strikes today against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon
Smoke billows after an Israeli strike on the area of el-Hosh near port city of Tyre in southern Lebanon on September 24, 2024. Israel says it is hitting Hezbollah targets (HASSAN FNEICH / AFP)
The IDF says it has completed a third wave of airstrikes against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, including targeting a launcher used to fire rockets at the Mount Carmel area near Haifa.
Five rockets were launched in the attack. The IDF says some of the rockets were intercepted by air defenses.
Shrapnel following an interception fell near the Elyakim Junction, lightly wounding a reservist soldier.
Shortly after the rocket fire, an Israeli Air Force drone struck and destroyed the launcher, the military says.
Other sites hit in the latest wave included buildings where Hezbollah had stored weapons and other infrastructure, according to the IDF.
מטוסי קרב של חיל-האוויר השלימו לפני זמן קצר גל תקיפה נוסף בשטח לבנון, בהכוונת אמ"ן ופיקוד הצפון.
במסגרת התקיפות, הושמדו מבנים בהם אוחסנו אמצעי לחימה, משגרים ותשתיות צבאיות נוספות.בהמשך להתרעות שהופעלו במרחב הכרמל, ואדי ערה, העמקים והמפרץ בין השעות 13:07-13:08, זוהו כחמישה… pic.twitter.com/CD5Sf7dJRD
— Israeli Air Force (@IAFsite) September 24, 2024
Separately, a drone that entered Israeli airspace from Lebanon in the Western Galilee was shot down by air defenses, and five rockets were launched form Lebanon at the same area shortly after, the IDF adds.
Haifa court upholds acquittal of cop in 2019 killing of Solomon Tekah
Ethiopian-Israeli Solomon Tekah, who was shot dead by an off-duty policeman in Kiryat Haim on June 30, 2019. (Courtesy)
The Haifa District Court unanimously rejects an appeal against the acquittal of the police officer accused of the reckless manslaughter of 18-year-old Solomon Tekah in 2019, saying that the officer was in a life-threatening situation when he fired a warning shot into the ground that ricocheted and killed Tekah, and that he acted appropriately.
The incident led to riots in the Ethiopian Israeli community, of which Tekah was a member, and generated renewed accusations of police violence and racism.
In its decision, the court says that the Haifa Magistrate Court’s ruling in April this year took into account all relevant considerations and addressed all the claims against the officer, whose name has been barred from publication.
The district court noted in particular that the situation, in which the officer confronted a group of youths fighting each other, had deteriorated because it was the youths themselves who threw rocks at the policeman, and that as a result his life was in immediate danger.
The court acknowledged the claims that the warning shot fired by the officer into the ground violated police procedure, which requires warning shots to be fired into the air, but said that this was not enough to convict him on the charge of reckless manslaughter.
It added that the police officer also had the right of self-defense in the situation owing to the threat to his life, which would have justified forceful action to defend himself.
“We are aware of the sorrow and suffering caused to the family of the deceased, as well as to the accused and his family. We hope and wish for comfort and a better future for all those involved in this painful case,” the judges add.
Ex-national security adviser: We must remove Hezbollah from south Lebanon even at risk of ‘big war’ we don’t want
Former Israeli national security adviser Yaakov Amidror (Flash90)
Yaakov Amidror, a former national security adviser, says Israel has to fundamentally change the situation regarding Hezbollah and that in doing so it may find itself in an all-out war. This could happen, he says, even though, “for all sorts of reasons, we don’t want to get to that big war in which Tel Aviv and Dahiyeh [Hezbollah’s stronghold in Beirut] play a role — symbolically and practically.”
In its battle against Hezbollah, Amidror tells Channel 12 news, Israel “has to reach a situation where Hezbollah is not near the border and cannot even think about the possibility of doing its own version of October 7.”
To achieve this, he says, “It could be that we will have to go into southern Lebanon with ground forces, to ensure that south Lebanon has no Hezbollah infrastructure, no Hezbollah fighters.”
It could also be, he adds, that “at some stage, we’ll pass a point… that will bring us to that all-out war.”
Amidror notes that Israel will also have to ensure that Hezbollah does not return to the south of Lebanon — because UN Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 war, “didn’t hold for even three minutes. We can’t rely on anybody else to do the work. UNIFIL [the UN peacekeeping force] is a bad joke.”
Furthermore, says Amidror, “We also can’t allow a situation whereby the war ends and Hezbollah then spends three years rebuilding itself.”
Rather, he says, Israel needs to “hit every Hezbollah military asset that it identifies.”
The threat posed by Hezbollah, he elaborates, “has to be reduced to the point where the decisionmakers in Israel won’t say, ‘We can’t do this, because Hezbollah will attack us.’ No. [The situation has to be that] Hezbollah has far fewer capabilities and we’re not afraid of what might happen [when the IDF needs to target its assets].”
Israel, he says, must not repeat the mistake of the past 20 years, where “we let it build up its power to the maximum, and did nothing to stop that.”
Asked whether Iran will stand by and let all this happen, he notes that Iran could choose to fire at Israel from its own territory. But if Tehran wants to rearm Hezbollah, it would need to convey that weaponry 1,500 kilometers, and Israel has capabilities to prevent this.
Israel let Hezbollah become a monster, and then was shocked by what it had allowed to happen, he says. Israel can’t let Hezbollah grow to monstrous proportions again, he stresses.
Amidror, in the interview, also describes as “overly optimistic” a reported estimate by an Israeli official that 50% of Hezbollah’s rockets and missiles have been destroyed and notes that, even if it were true, that would still leave Hezbollah with tens of thousands of rockets and missiles. “We need to take account not only of what’s been destroyed, but also of what remains,” he says.
Finally, he says there is no reason to believe that pressure on Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah will help enable a hostage-ceasefire deal with Hamas, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Sunday. “I don’t understand how people connect this. Hamas makes the decisions on the hostages, and Hezbollah has no influence on that, in my opinion,” says Amidror, who served as Netanyahu’s national security adviser in 2011-13.
Israel has to “keep hitting Hezbollah and prevent it from rebuilding, and continue to target Hamas,” including its fighters and its tunnels, he says. “And most important, there are hostages to free [in Gaza]. We have to do all that with no connection to what we are doing in Lebanon.”
4 Shiite clerics presumed to be Hezbollah commanders killed in yesterday’s IDF strikes – report
Four Shiite clerics believed to be Hezbollah commanders were killed in yesterday’s strikes in Lebanon, the Saudi media channel Al Arabiya reports.
The four are named as sheikhs Abdul Minam Mahna, Amin Saad, Muhammad Salah and Ali Abu Raya. Al Arabiya describes all of them collectively as “Hezbollah commanders.”
Canadian Arabic-language news website Sada Online eulogizes both Saad and Abu Raya and reports that they had served as imams in Canada. The former was reportedly the head of the Islamic Center of Hamilton, Ontario, between 2000 and 2006, while no details are provided on the latter, other than that he served the Canadian Shiite community for “many years.”
Israel’s Alma Research Center, which focuses on Lebanon and the northern front, reported in 2022 that a Hezbollah member named Ali Abu Raya was an officer in the Latin American department of Hezbollah’s foreign service. It is not clear if it is the same Hezbollah cleric who was killed yesterday.
Various unverified reports refer to Abdul Minam Mahna with the honorific title of “ayatollah,” indicating a high-ranking Shiite cleric.
At least 558 people were killed in extensive IDF airstrikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon since yesterday, and 1,833 were wounded, according to the Lebanese health ministry.
The figures do not differentiate between members of the terror group and civilians.
مصادر #العربية تؤكد مقتل 4 قيادات في #حزب_الله اللبناني خلال ساعات بضربات إسرائيلية.. وهم #عبدالمنعم_مهنا و #محمد_صالح و #أمين_سعد و #علي_أبو_ريا#لبنان pic.twitter.com/KHbE3iwiyC
— العربية (@AlArabiya) September 23, 2024
US again urges Americans to leave Lebanon while they can
National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby speaks during the daily briefing in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on September 18, 2024. (Jim WATSON / AFP)
Americans in Lebanon should leave now while flights are still available, White House national security spokesman John Kirby says, as violence escalates sharply between the Hezbollah terror group and Israel along the Israel-Lebanon border.
“We want to make sure that there are still commercial options available for Americans to leave, and they should be leaving now while those options are available,” Kirby tells ABC News’ “Good Morning America” program, adding that US officials have been in constant contact with Israeli counterparts.
Lufthansa extends flight suspensions for Tel Aviv, Tehran
Lufthansa aircrafts parked at the airport in Frankfurt, Germany, September 2, 2022. (AP Photo/Michael Probst,file)
German airline group Lufthansa says it extended the suspension of flights to and from Tel Aviv and Iranian capital Tehran up to and including October 14.
Lufthansa continues to “monitor the situation closely and will assess it further in the coming days,” the group says on its website as the escalation in the conflict between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah threatens to destabilize the region. Flights to Beirut remain suspended until October 26, Lufthansa adds.
IDF announces fresh airstrikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon
The IDF announces that it is carrying out a new wave of airstrikes against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.
Earlier today, two waves of strikes were carried out in southern Lebanon and the Beqaa Valley.
IDF chief Halevi: ‘Hezbollah will not be given a break, we will accelerate offensive operations’
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi holds an assessment at the military's underground command room at the IDF HQ in Tel Aviv, September 23, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi says at the end an assessment this morning that Hezbollah will not be granted a respite and that the military will accelerate its actions against the terror group in Lebanon.
“Hezbollah must not be given a break. [We must] keep working with all our might,” he says in remarks provided by the IDF.
“We will accelerate the offensive operations today and bolster all the arrays. The situation requires continued intensive action on all fronts,” Halevi adds.
Source says Levin rejects 10 justices’ request to retract their nominations for Supreme Court president
A source close to Justice Minister Yariv Levin say that the minister rejects the requests of 10 Supreme Court justices to retract their nominations for Supreme Court president, put forward by Levin himself without their consent, saying that the law does not allow them to do so.
The source alleges in a statement to the press that “organized pressure” had been exerted on the justices to ask for their nominations to be retracted, and says that this leaves “a bad smell of the severe disruption of the election processes.”
Levin nominated all 12 justices after the Supreme Court ordered him earlier this month to call a vote for a new Supreme Court president. He had been refusing to do so for the past 11 months owing to his desire to appoint Elron, a conservative, to the position. Elron doesn’t have a majority of votes on the Judicial Selection Committee.
With all the justices nominated, proceedings will take a long time as the public can air objections to each candidate.
Sirens warn of rocket fire at Upper Galilee, northern border communities
Sirens warn of rocket fire from Lebanon at communities in the Upper Galilee region and towns along the northern border.
IDF says 5 rockets fired at Haifa area in latest barrage
Five rockets were launched from Lebanon at the Mount Carmel area, south of Haifa in the latest barrage, according to the IDF.
One person was moderately wounded by shrapnel amid the attack, medics say.
Man moderately injured by shrapnel amid Hezbollah rocket barrage south of Haifa
An Israeli man is moderately wounded by shrapnel amid Hezbollah’s latest rocket barrage on the Mount Carmel area, south of Haifa.
The Magen David Adom ambulance service says it treated the 25-year-old at the scene near the Elyakim Junction, and is taking him to a hospital.
He was hit by shrapnel in the back and is listed in moderate condition, according to MDA.
Lebanon health ministry: Death toll from IDF airstrikes reaches 558, over 1,800 wounded
Rescuers stand on the rubble of a building hit in an Israeli airstrike in the southern village of Akbieh, Lebanon, Sept. 24, 2024. Israel says it is targeting Hezbollah in the strikes (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
The Lebanese health ministry raises the death toll of the IDF’s extensive airstrikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon since yesterday to 558.
Another 1,835 are wounded, the ministry says.
The figures do not differentiate between members of the terror group and civilians.
The IDF says it has been striking Hezbollah sites in south Lebanon and in the Beqaa Valley, including homes where the terror group has been storing weapons.
Rocket sirens sound in towns south of Haifa
Rocket sirens are sounding in the Mount Carmel region, south of Haifa, amid a new rocket attack from Lebanon.
The alerts are activated in Yokne’am, Daliyat al-Karmel, Isfiya, and several other towns in the area.
Iran’s president: Hezbollah ‘cannot stand alone’ against Israel
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian speaks during the 38th International Islamic Unity Conference in Tehran, Iran, on September 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian says that its proxy Hezbollah “cannot stand alone” against Israel, as the terror group fired rockets at northern Israel towns and the IDF renewed airstrikes against targets in Lebanon.
“Hezbollah cannot stand alone against a country that is being defended and supported and supplied by Western countries, by European countries and the United States,” Pezeshkian says in an interview with CNN translated from Farsi to English.
“We must not allow Lebanon to become another Gaza at the hands of Israel,” he says.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Military sources: Reports that IDF destroyed 50% of Hezbollah rocket capabilities are likely exaggerated
Rockets fired from Lebanon are intercepted over Safed on September 23, 2024 (David Cohen/Flash90)
While some Hebrew-language media outlets reported last night that Israeli defense officials assessed that 50% of Hezbollah’s rocket capabilities were destroyed in yesterday’s strikes in Lebanon, military sources tell The Times of Israel that those figures are likely exaggerated.
The IDF said it targeted some 1,600 Hezbollah sites in Lebanon yesterday, largely striking homes where the terror group stored munitions.
The military has said the munitions included cruise missiles, short-range heavy rockets, medium-range rockets, and explosive drones. Notably, the IDF has not yet said it has destroyed Hezbollah’s long-range rockets and precision-guided missiles.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said last night that “tens of thousands of rockets were destroyed” in the strikes. Military sources say the strikes have prevented Hezbollah from carrying out even larger attacks on Israel.
According to official IDF assessments from before the war which began last October, Hezbollah had over 200,000 rockets, mortars, and missiles.
The numbers include 400 long-range rockets, hundreds of precision-guided missiles, 4,800 medium-range rockets, 65,000 short-range rockets, and 140,000 mortars.
Also according to the assessments, Hezbollah has hundreds of explosive-laden drones, around 100 anti-ship missiles, and at least 17 anti-aircraft systems.
Hezbollah has already launched over 8,000 rockets and hundreds of drones at northern Israel amid the fighting in the past 11 months.
IDF says it completed wave of airstrikes targeting Hezbollah in south Lebanon, Beqaa Valley
A rescuer inspects the debris at the site of an overnight Israeli strike in the southern Lebanese village of Akbiyeh on September 24, 2024 (Mahmoud ZAYYAT / AFP)
The IDF says it has completed a second wave of airstrikes in Lebanon since this morning, targeting Hezbollah sites in the Beqaa Valley and in the south of the country.
According to the military, the strikes targeted buildings where Hezbollah stored weapons, command rooms, and other infrastructure.
It says that secondary blasts can be seen in footage following the strikes, “which indicate that many weapons were stored in the buildings.”
מטוסי קרב השלימו כעת גל תקיפה שני החל משעות הבוקר.
בהכוונת פיקוד הצפון ואגף המודיעין, חיל האוויר תקף מטרות טרור של חיזבאללה בבקעא שבעומק לבנון ובמרחבים נוספים בדרום לבנון, בהן מבנים בהם אוחסנו אמצעי לחימה, מפקדות ותשתיות צבאיות נוספות>> pic.twitter.com/JdH02LOIVZ— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) September 24, 2024
On a Reuters live feed of the southern Lebanese city of Tyre, what appeared to be at least two rockets can be seen launching into the air erratically following a strike on a building.
The IDF says it is continuing to strike Hezbollah targets, to destroy the terror group’s capabilities.
IDF again warns Lebanese civilians to move away from Hezbollah buildings amid renewed strikes
Smoke billows after an Israeli strike on the area of el-Hosh near port city of Tyre in southern Lebanon on September 24, 2024. Israel says it is hitting Hezbollah targets (HASSAN FNEICH / AFP)
The IDF issues new warnings to Lebanese civilians in villages where Hezbollah has stored munitions in homes, saying that airstrikes against the terror group will continue today.
“If you are near or in Hezbollah buildings or those used by it to store weapons, you must move away from those buildings at least one kilometer away or outside the village, immediately,” Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, says on X.
“Anyone who is around Hezbollah elements is putting themselves in danger,” he adds.
UN rights chief: Anyone with influence in Mideast must work to avert further escalation
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk listens to delegates after delivering his report of the situation in the West Bank and Gaza during the 55th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on February 29, 2024. (Fabrice Coffrini/AFP)
The UN human rights chief urges intervention to stave off any further escalation in hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, voicing alarm.
“UN High Commissioner Volker Türk calls on all states and actors with influence in the region and beyond to avert further escalation and do everything they can to ensure full respect for international law,” a spokesperson for Turk says at a Geneva press briefing.
10 Supreme Court justices withdraw candidacies after Levin nominated them for president without consent
Justice Minister Yariv Levin attends a swearing-in ceremony for newly appointed judges at the President's Residence in Jerusalem, on June 23, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
All Supreme Court justices other than Isaac Amit and Yosef Elron inform the Judicial Selection Committee that they are retracting their candidacies for Supreme Court president, after Justice Minister Yariv Levin nominated them without their consent for the post earlier this week.
It is not immediately clear, however, whether their candidacy is actually withdrawn. Sources close to Levin point out that by law, the justice minister is entitled to nominate candidates for the position.
Guy Lurie of the Israel Democracy Institute notes that the attempt to force a nomination on Supreme Court justices is “highly irregular,” and questions its legality.
Levin nominated all 12 justices as act of defiance against the Supreme Court which, in its capacity as High Court of Justice, ordered the justice minister earlier this month to call a vote for a new Supreme Court president after he refused to do so for the past 11 months owing to his desire to appoint Elron, a conservative, to the position. Elron’s candidacy doesn’t have majority support in the committee.
Levin’s gambit was designed to further delay the appointment of Amit, a liberal, by having the committee consider and review the candidacy of every serving justice and review submissions from the general public.
Amit is in line to become president in accordance with the seniority system, in place since the court was founded, whereby the justice with the most years on the court becomes its president.
Netanyahu to meet with Lapid for security briefing
Head of the Yesh Atid party Yair Lapid and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Knesset's assembly hall for a special session in memory of Israel's first prime minister, David Ben Gurion, on November 8, 2021. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)
Amid the ongoing escalation in the north, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is slated to provide Opposition Leader Yair Lapid with a security briefing tomorrow afternoon.
The last time Lapid received a security briefing from Netanyahu was early August, his first in two months.
The leader of the opposition is traditionally briefed once a month by the sitting prime minister on sensitive national security issues.
US official to CNN: Hezbollah has ‘probably been taken 20 years backwards’ by IDF strikes
Smoke billows from a site targeted by Israeli shelling in the southern Lebanese village of Zaita on September 23, 2024. (Mahmoud Zayyat/AFP)
US officials tell CNN that Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon have significantly weakened the Hezbollah terror group, potentially setting the terror group back 20 years.
“They’ve probably been taken 20 years backwards,” an unnamed official says of the IDF operations against the Iran-backed terror group.
While the strikes appear to have significantly weakened the terror group, the US is still working to convince Israel not to further escalate, the outlet says.
IDF says over 100 rockets fired by Hezbollah at northern Israel today
Another 10 rockets were launched from Lebanon at the Galilee Panhandle an hour ago.
According to the IDF, the rockets struck open areas.
More than 100 rockets have been launched by Hezbollah at northern Israel by noon today.
IDF launches fresh airstrikes against Hezbollah targets in south Lebanon
The IDF confirms launching a new wave of airstrikes against Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon.
In the past few hours, fighter jets struck Hezbollah rocket launchers, buildings used by the terror group, and homes where weapons were stored, the military says,
Meanwhile, the IDF says that 10 rockets were launched from Lebanon at the Lower Galilee an hour ago, setting off sirens in several towns.
Some of the rockets were intercepted, and there are no injuries, the military adds.
So far today, Hezbollah has launched nearly 100 rockets at northern Israel.
Lebanese media reports new wave of Israeli airstrikes in south Lebanon
Lebanese media reports a new wave of Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon.
Strikes are reported in Seddiqine, Arabsalim, Beit Lif, and Sultaniyeh.
Earlier this morning, Lebanese media reported a series of strikes in the Beqaa Valley, deep within the country.
Gridlocked traffic in parts of Lebanon as residents continue to evacuate
Lebanese citizens fleeing southern villages amid Israeli airstrikes against Hezbollah sit in their cars on a highway that links to Beirut, in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Sept. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
Photos and videos on social media show south and east Lebanon residents are still fleeing amid the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.
Images show gridlocked traffic in a number of areas.
Yesterday the IDF told civilians to distance themselves from buildings used by the Iran-backed terror group to store weapons, as widespread Israeli airstrikes targeting Hezbollah killed at least 492 people and injured over 1,645 more, according to Lebanese authorities.
The IDF said the air force was targeting homes where “rockets, drones and missiles” were stored by Hezbollah, and repeatedly urged civilians to flee from homes where such weapons were kept. It said many of the dead were Hezbollah members.
Meanwhile, the terror group continued to fire rockets at northern Israel overnight and this morning.
Lebanese citizens fleeing the southern villages amid ongoing Israeli airstrikes against Hezbollah sit in their cars at a highway that links to Beirut, in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Sept. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
Sweden says Iran behind thousands of text messages calling for revenge over 2023 Quran burnings
Supporters of radical Islamist party 'Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan' burn a representation of Swedish flag during a rally to denounce the burning of the Quran, in Karachi, Pakistan, July 7, 2023. (AP/Fareed Khan)
Sweden’s prosecutors accuse Iran’s intelligence service of hacking an SMS operator in 2023 to send messages encouraging people to take revenge on protesters who had burned the Quran.
Sweden’s Prosecution Authority says in a statement that some 15,000 messages “calling for revenge against Quran burners” had been sent in the summer of 2023, following a slew of protests involving desecrations of the Quran.
“The aim was to create division in Swedish society,” the authority says.
In a separate statement, Sweden’s intelligence service Sapo says it had determined that a hacker group had acted “on behalf of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard to carry out an influence campaign.”
“The aim was, among other things, to paint the picture of Sweden as an Islamophobic country,” Fredrik Hallstrom, chief of operations at Sapo, says in a statement.
On August 1, 2023, Swedish media reported that a large number of people had received text messages calling for revenge against people who had burned the Muslim holy book, the authority notes.
According to prosecutors, an investigation had shown that a group called Anzu team was behind the operation, adding that the investigation had been closed, as it was deemed unlikely that it would be possible to bring the suspects to justice.
IDF says more than 65 rockets fired from Lebanon at Israel this morning
More than 65 rockets have been launched from Lebanon at northern Israel this morning, according to the IDF.
The military says some 10 rockets were launched at areas east of Haifa at 7:43 a.m., several of which were intercepted by air defenses.
Shrapnel from an intercepted rocket lightly wounded a 58-year-old woman, medics say. She was taken to a hospital.
At 9:36 a.m., five rockets were launched at the Jezreel Valley, some of which were intercepted and the rest struck open areas. There were no injuries.
At 9:42 a.m., a barrage of 50 rockets was fired at the Kiryat Shmona area. The IDF says some of the rockets were intercepted, while others struck the city, causing damage but no injuries.
Firefighters are working to extinguish fires sparked in the Kiryat Shmona area.
The attacks come after two rockets were launched at Nahariya early this morning, and another 20 were fired overnight at the Jezreel Valley, bringing the total today to nearly 90.
Meanwhile, fresh sirens sound in the Lower Galilee.
Rocket sirens in Lower Galilee
Sirens sound in the Lower Galilee as the area is targeted with rocket fire from Lebanon.
Dashcam footage shows moment rocket hit road in northern Israel
Dashboard footage shows the moment a rocket fired from Lebanon hit a road between Tamra and Kabul in northern Israel, September 24, 2024. (Social media/X; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
Dashboard footage shows the moment a rocket fired from Lebanon hit a road between Tamra and Kabul in northern Israel this morning.
There were no injuries in the Hezbollah attack.
נפילת רקטה בכביש 70 בין טמרה וכאבול, היום pic.twitter.com/e0C7h2wqat
— הארץ חדשות (@haaretznewsvid) September 24, 2024
Some 50 rockets fired by Hezbollah at northern towns in latest barrage – reports
Smoke rises from Kiryat Shmona after a rocket fired by Hezbollah from Lebanon hit the town, September 24, 2024 (Channel 12 screen grab used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
Some 50 rockets were fired by Hezbollah at northern Israel in the most recent attack, Hebrew-language media reports.
Municipal warehouses were among the locations hit in the northern border town Kiryat Shmona, the Kan public broadcaster reports.
At least one building is on fire.
There are no reports of injuries.
Reports of rocket strikes in Kiryat Shmona
A number of rockets impacted in the northern border town Kiryat Shmona, Hebrew-language media reports.
There are no immediate reports on potential injuries.
Sirens sound in northern border towns as area comes under heavy rocket fire
Sirens sound in communities close to the border with Lebanon as the area apparently comes under heavy rocket fire from Lebanon.
Alerts are repeatedly heard in multiple towns including Kiryat Shmona and Metula.
The rocket fire comes minutes after Afula, Nazareth and surrounding communities were also attacked.
Qatar Airways suspends Beirut flights until Wednesday
A Qatar Airways jet approaches Philadelphia International Airport in Philadelphia, November 7, 2019. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
Qatar Airways says it suspended flights to Beirut until Wednesday as fighting escalated between Israel and Hezbollah.
“Due to the ongoing situation in Lebanon, Qatar Airways has temporarily suspended flights to and from Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport until September 25,” the Qatari national carrier says in a statement.
“The safety of our passengers remains our highest priority,” it adds.
A number of carriers have already canceled flights to both Beirut and Tel Aviv amid the fighting.
Rocket sirens sound in Nazareth, Afula areas
Sirens sound in Nazareth and Afula and surrounding communities, warning of incoming rocket fire.
The same area was targeted by Hezbollah overnight.
Hezbollah claims responsibility for overnight rocket fire
The Iron Dome air defense system fires interceptors at rockets that were launched from Lebanon, September 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Hezbollah claims responsibility for an overnight rocket attack, claiming it targeted a military supplies factory 60 km (37 miles) into Israel with the “Fadi” series of rockets.
It says it attacked an explosives factory around 4 a.m. (0100 GMT) and the Megiddo airfield three separate times overnight. The airfield is mainly used for civilian purposes.
The rocket fire triggered sirens in multiple communities in northern Israel.
IDF: Hezbollah sites hit overnight, secondary explosions indicate buildings used to store weapons
The Israel Defense Forces says it carried out an airstrike on the Hezbollah cell that fired toward toward the Afula area overnight, destroying the launchers.
Additionally, the military says jets hit dozens of Hezbollah targets in several areas in southern Lebanon, with secondary explosions indicating that weapons were stored in the buildings.
צה"ל תקף את חוליית המחבלים שירתה לעבר מרחב עפולה והעמקים במהלך הלילה ותקף את המשגרים>> pic.twitter.com/anSNgXK9Do
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) September 24, 2024
School canceled in more northern towns amid Hezbollah rocket fire
The Home Front Command has changed its instructions for a number of communities, and schools will not open today in those towns amid the fighting on the northern border and Hezbollah rocket fire into Israel.
There will be no in-person educational activities in the Megido area, Yokneam Illit, Daliyat al-Karmel and Isfiya.
The Home Front Command had already cancelled schools in communities from Haifa northwards.
Rocket sirens sound in Galilee, Haifa area
Sirens sound in northern Israel, warning of incoming rocket fire from Lebanon toward multiple towns and communities.
Alerts are heard in communities and towns in the Galilee and close to Haifa.
Wizz Air, British Airways, Azerbaijan Airlines cancel Israel flights today
View of a Wizzair flight taking off from Ben Gurion International Airport, September 3, 2014. (Moshe Shai/Flash 90)
Wizz Air, British Airways and Azerbaijan Airlines have canceled flights to and from Ben Gurion Airport today amid increased fighting between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, Channel 12 news reports.
The Ben Gurion Airport website shows all three are no longer flying to or from Israel today.
Many airlines have only recently resumed flights, having suspended the route at various points over the year since Hamas’s devastating October 7 attack and the subsequent war. Others are still not flying due to safety concerns and travel warnings.
Widespread Israeli airstrikes targeting Hezbollah in southern Lebanon killed at least 492 people yesterday and injured over 1,645 more, Beirut said.
Hezbollah bombarded Israel with over 200 rockets yesterday, setting off sirens in northern Israel, near the bay metropolis of Haifa and as far south as some West Bank settlements near Tel Aviv, causing some damage but no major casualties.
Many carriers have also scrapped flights to and from Beirut.
IDF says 2 rockets fired from Lebanon at Nahariya fell in the sea
Two rockets fired this morning from Lebanon at the northern city of Nahariya fell in the sea, according to the IDF.
Sirens had sounded in Nahariya and nearby communities amid the attack.
There were no damage or injuries.
Chinese FM tells Lebanese counterpart that he condemns ‘indiscriminate attacks on civilians’
BEIJING — China’s top diplomat Wang Yi has expressed support for Lebanon and condemned what he termed “indiscriminate attacks against civilians,” Beijing’s foreign ministry says.
Meeting his counterpart in New York, Wang said: “We pay close attention to developments in the region, especially the recent explosion of communications equipment in Lebanon, and firmly oppose indiscriminate attacks against civilians.”
Warning sirens activated in Nahariya, neighboring kibbutzim
Rocket sirens sound in Nahariya, a coastal city close to the Lebanon border, and two nearby kibbutzim.
G7 FMs warn against ‘broader regional conflict’ due to ‘actions and counter-reactions’
NEW YORK — The foreign ministers of the Group of Seven (G7) major democracies warn that actions and counter-actions in the Middle East risk dragging the region into a broader conflict that no country would gain from.
“Actions and counter-reactions risk magnifying this dangerous spiral of violence and dragging the entire Middle East into a broader regional conflict with unimaginable consequences,” the G7 says in a statement after meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.
“They called for a stop to the current destructive cycle, while emphasizing that no country stands to gain from a further escalation in the Middle East.”
Security cabinet said to make no new decisions, remains open to deescalation with Hezbollah
Citing sources familiar with last night’s security cabinet deliberations, the Ynet news site reports that it remains unclear if Israel is headed to an all-out war with Hezbollah after launching a major aerial offensive against the Lebanese terror group.
The sources say no new decisions were made during the meeting, while adding that Israel remains open to deescalating tensions with Hezbollah if the latter is willing to reach an arrangement.
According to the news site, ministers said during the meeting that it was important Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu still go to the UN General Assembly in New York this week despite the fighting, saying it’s an important PR opportunity. Netanyahu’s office announced hours ago that the premier is indeed going, but is delaying his flight there until Wednesday night.
IDF says Hezbollah fired around 20 rockets at north, with all intercepted or landing in open
The IDF says Hezbollah fired some 20 rockets at northern Israel in three separate salvos, with all the projectiles either intercepted by air defense systems or falling in open areas.
A statement from the military says Israeli aircraft struck the sources of the rocket fire.
Magen David Adom says ambulance in Jezreel Valley damaged by shrapnel
Magen David Adom says that one of its ambulances in the Jezreel Valley was damaged by shrapnel during the rocket attack by Hezbollah.
Hezbollah claims responsibility for overnight rocket fire at north
Hezbollah claims responsibility for the overnight attack that activated warning sirens in communities across northern Israel, saying it launched rockets at several military bases and airfields.
The Israel Defense Forces has yet to comment on the rocket fire.
Several treated for anxiety, injuries sustained while seeking shelter amid attack on north
The Magen David Adom ambulance service says paramedics are treating a number of people hurt while running for shelter or who are suffering from severe anxiety, after apparent rocket fire set off sirens in communities across the north.
MDA says it hasn’t received any reports of people being directly wounded in the attacks.
Police meanwhile say interceptors and unspecified weaponry impacted in several areas of Nazareth and the surrounding area, adding there are reports of damage, as sirens continue to be activated in northern communities.
Incoming rocket sirens sound in Afula, Nazareth and numerous other northern towns
Incoming rocket sirens start sounding in Afula, Nazareth and numerous other communities across northern Israel around 2:40 a.m., amid intensive cross-border fighting between Israeli forces and Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
US says Harris, UAE leader discussed Gaza war and hostage talks during White House meeting
This handout picture provided by the UAE Presidential Court shows UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan being received by US Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris at the White House in Washington, on September 23, 2024. (Ryan Carter/UAE Presidential Court/AFP)
In their White House meeting earlier today, US Vice President Kamala Harris and UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed “discussed the war in Gaza and efforts to secure a ceasefire and hostage deal,” according to a US readout.
Harris “underscored the importance of protecting innocent civilians and sustaining the flow of life-saving humanitarian assistance. They discussed the importance of continued coordination to bring this war to an end and plan for the Day After.”
“They also discussed the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, and our work to prevent the conflict from escalating and reach a diplomatic solution that would allow populations on both sides of the border to return to their homes,” the US readout adds.
Lebanese civilians paying ‘intolerable, unacceptable price,’ says EU’s top diplomat
European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell delivers a statement to the media prior to a Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) meeting at the EU headquarters in Brussels on May 27, 2024. (François WALSCHAERTS / AFP)
NEW YORK — The escalation between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah is almost a full-fledged war, the European Union’s foreign policy chief says after a meeting with EU foreign ministers.
“In less than one week – less than one week – 4,400 people are wounded and almost 500 killed” in Lebanon, he says. “If this is not a war situation, you will tell me how do you call it.
“Certainly, [there] has not been a land invasion. I am not a member of the staff of the Israeli Defense Forces, so I cannot tell you which are their plans, but it is clear that they have been announcing once and again that the only solution is a full-fledged war, an invasion,” Borrell tells reporters.
“We are seeing how civilians in Lebanon are paying an intolerable, unacceptable price,” he says.
“Five hundred people killed and 4,400 people injured — this is something that escapes any kind of consideration about the civilian casualties.”
Borrell charges: “It is again in the Geneva Convention to make explosives at a distance without taking any consideration for the environment where these explosives are exploding – either in a queue in a commercial center, in a public square, on the street, in a hospital, wherever. These are targeted and at the same time random attacks. Targeted because of the purpose and random because of the consequences.
“I condemned it. I continue condemning it.”
US official: We’re against Israeli ground op in Lebanon, want diplomatic ‘off-ramp’
UNITED NATIONS — The United States is presenting “concrete” ideas to ease the crisis in Lebanon, a US official says, while voicing opposition to any Israeli ground invasion to target Hezbollah.
“We’ve got some concrete ideas we’re going to be discussing with allies and partners this week to try to figure out the way forward on this,” the senior US official says as world leaders gathered in New York for the UN General Assembly.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, says that the United States wants to find an “off-ramp that will first and foremost prevent further escalation in the fighting.”
He voices hope that the US proposals will “reduce tensions and will segue into a diplomatic process that allows communities on both sides of the border — on both sides of the Blue Line — to safely return home in the near future.”
The official declines to describe the concrete ideas in detail but says that Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other senior US officials will be discussing them during his meetings at the General Assembly.
The official renews opposition by the United States to a ground invasion by Israel, which has been pounding sites in Lebanon associated with the Shiite terror movement Hezbollah, nearly a year after fellow Iranian ally Hamas attacked Israel.
“I think it is important for everyone to take Israeli preparations seriously,” he says.
“We obviously do not believe that a ground invasion of Lebanon is going to contribute to reducing tensions in the region, to preventing an escalatory spiral of violence, and that’s in part why we are so focused on utilizing this week to explore these ideas and see if we can develop this off-ramp,” he says.
France asks UN Security Council to hold emergency meeting on Lebanon fighting
France requests an emergency UN Security Council meeting to discuss Lebanon after Israel announced an offensive military operation against Hezbollah following nearly a year of clashes with the Iran-backed terror group.
“I have requested that an emergency meeting of the Security Council be held on Lebanon this week,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot tells the United Nations General Assembly, calling on all sides to “avoid a regional conflagration that would be devastating for everyone,” especially civilians.
Netanyahu delays flight to NY until Wednesday night as fighting intensifies in Lebanon
Illustrative: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seen at Ben Gurion Airport as he prepares to board a flight to Kenya on November 28, 2017. (Haim Zach/GPO/Flash90)
As fighting continues to escalate in Lebanon, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s flight to New York is postponed until Wednesday night at midnight, his office announces.
He will land in New York on Thursday morning, and will deliver his address to the United Nations on Friday morning.
IDF: Some 1,600 strikes launched the past day against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon
The military says Israeli aircraft have attacked several hundred more Hezbollah targets in the past few hours, raising the number of strikes in Lebanon against the terror group over the past day to 1,600.
According to an Israel Defense Forces statement, the latest airstrikes across Lebanon struck launch sites, command posts and military facilities used by Hezbollah.
Hamas armed wing says field commander in south Lebanon was killed in Israeli strike
Hamas’s armed wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, says that its field commander in southern Lebanon, Mahmoud al Nader, was killed in an Israeli strike in Lebanon on Monday.
Saudi Arabia urges restraint as fighting escalates in Lebanon
Saudi Arabia has expressed deep concern in a statement over security developments in Lebanon, warning of escalating violence and urging all parties to exercise restraint, state news agency SPA reports.
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